


Wayfaring Stranger - Wattpad

by gillyweed1984



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:02:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25492780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gillyweed1984/pseuds/gillyweed1984
Summary: Maria di Angelo navigates her own Sea of Monsters.
Relationships: Bianca di Angelo & Maria di Angelo, Maria di Angelo & Nico di Angelo, Maria di Angelo/Hades
Kudos: 10





	Wayfaring Stranger - Wattpad

**Author's Note:**

> Maria di Angelo navigates her own Sea of Monsters.

"Lower your sleeves, Maria. It's best if you give them a glimpse," Stefano di Angelo told her.

"I am not some scarlet woman," she replied, seemingly unfazed. But her eyes flashed with anger.

"You are nearly twenty-two years old and still unmarried, dragging those two little bastardes behind you. No matter how much makeup and fancy clothes you put on you are hardly the marriageable type."

"I love you too, Papa. As do your grandchildren." He bared his teeth when she said this, drawing the air in with a hissing sound. But she continued, "Especially Nico. Papa you would be so proud to see the way he watches the brave young soldiers in their fine uniforms."

If anything this just made him more angry. "Yes well, I'll do what I can to beat any unnatural thoughts out of his head," he said, glowering across the table at his daughter. "Rest assured, they will both be dealt with. Now, let us not keep Matteo waiting..."

An hour and a half later, Maria was standing in the grand hall of the hotel. She was almost alone, except for her babies and a group of foreign soldiers milling about the far end.

She faced a giant mirror and examined herself. Today, she was Rita Hayworth with her hair free in dark golden waves, her eyes distant and coy. But the image quickly faded into the reality beneath.

Somewhere in this terrible war she had lost track of her soul and now she wasn't sure where to look anymore.

She bit her nails, lost in her thoughts. She couldn't escape the slimy way Matteo made her feel. His hands had been everywhere. She fought the urge to start peeling off her skin. He was a way out of Europe and safety for her babies.

Bianca laughed happily, pulling Maria out of herself. 

For a moment, she wasn't an actress playing a role. She smiled warmly, watching her daughter play a ball game with the soldiers. She clasped her hands as Bianca kicked the ball back to one of them. Maria looked up into their faces.

She would remember every detail of the next moment in perfect clarity for the rest of her life.

Her blood turned to ice as she met eyes with one of the soldiers. His eyes shone with a malicious amusement. The corner of his mouth twitched upwards in a knowing smirk. His eyes flickered to her son, standing between them, and then back to her.

An unspoken threat, but of what she wasn't yet sure.

She dropped her hands and walked slowly to Nico, the click of her heels echoing dissonant with the cold marble hall.

He stared up at her, shyly hanging on to one of the balustrades. He wouldn't engage; he never did. As always, he hung back watching his sister have all the fun.

"Mi amore," she said. She leaned down extending her hand to him. He didn't respond right away. For a long moment, he just stared at her with those weird dark eyes. They seemed too ancient for his face and gave her the sense that he was silently judging her.

How could she not be a little resentful?

She sighed inwardly and pushed the thought away. "What has happened," she asked him, hoping she was convincing enough. 

"Mama, they drew on my arm," he whispered to her, his voice dropping even lower with every word.

"The soldiers," she asked.

He just nodded. She bit her lip to keep from showing her irritation. He had probably used up quota for words with that short sentence. Her son was the strangest person she had ever known and she knew his father quite well by now. 

She pushed up his sleeve revealing a set of numbers traced into his skin with charcoal marks. Her fingers squeezed his upper arm, the skin turning red under her grip.

"Bianca," she cried, dragging Nico along behind her as she stormed across the gilded hall. She grabbed her daughter's arm and started to pull her away too.

"But mama," Bianca began. 

Maria whirled around and slapped her across the face. "How could you let this happen? How could you let these men do that to him? You were supposed to be taking care of him!"

Maria di Angelo turned pale as a ghost and looked horrified with herself. "I am sorry, mi amore." She rubbed the spot on her daughter's face. 

By now both of the children were crying.

"What is the meaning of this," she heard Matteo's outraged voice.

Maria almost smiled. Her chances with him as a potential husband were ruined. She hoped she didn't seem to relieved when she turned to face her father.

The two of them blocked the exit. Matteo was staring furiously at her father. He was red faced, already deep in his cups, and beefy; the buttons on his jacket were strained and ready to pop free of their seams. Hardly a prince or white knight. She also hoped her disgust didn't show.

"Do they always make such a nuisance of themselves?"

"Yes, my future husband. My children and I can be quite vexing. My, how your reputation will suffer."

Matteo scowled at her and burped. "Deals off. Good luck ridding yourself of her. With her age, and the children I doubt even the convents will take her."

"Oh dear, I've disappointed you again, Papa," Maria said. This time she didn't bother not sounding bored.

Stefano's face was impassive. "I will still change his mind. He owes me many favors." 

Maria felt deflated. She and her children may still be doomed to a life of oppression and monotony.

But if they stayed in Europe they most certainly would be swept up in the war. 

"Also, a gentleman by the name of Youdic approached me just now about the girl."

"The girl! Her name is Bianca and she's your granddaughter. She's not the girl." He waved her off like a spoiled child but that only outraged her further. "She's not even eight years old, and you're trying to marry her away too? Are the di Angelo women mere livestock to be traded?"

He was unmoved. His expression remained apathetic. "If you behave as though were born in a barn you will be treated as such."

She envisioned a scene from one of the movies she lived vicariously through. She was in Medusa's lair and was staring down the beast. She felt her body turning to stone.

She met her father's eye and drew herself up. "You will not lead my children to the wolves."

"You came to me for help, you forget."

"Yes, and instead of help you would curse them and call it a blessing."

"Necessary. The world will not be kind to them if you continue to coddle them."

She sighed as she lifted Nico into her arms and cradled him to her. She took Bianca's hand and walked them out through the double doors.

It was raining on the streets. Maria leaned against the brick wall of the hotel and let herself feel the rain for once. 

She had the overwhelming sense of leaving a place of safety for the great unknown. So why then did she feel so unburdened?

Her perfect hair fell flat and her makeup ran as the rain soaked her dark dress.

Beside her, Bianca shivered and clung to her leg. Nico shifted uncomfortably, as if a dry space could still be found.

If only they had been born to more capable parents.

Maria steeled herself once again and wondered what her next role would be.

Maybe she was a scarlet woman, after all. She imagined Vivian Lee, fierce and beautiful upon a hilltop, declaring herself invincible.

"Milady," the smoothest of voices called to her. She looked up to see a dark skinned man with a shock of pale hair. He was standing outside an elegant sedan. He moved his hand in a sweeping motion to the door at his left.

"Charon," she said coolly.

He smiled at her, taking extra care to leave his lips unparted and not reveal his horror show teeth. "My lord Hades would offer a solution to your recent woes."

She gritted her teeth and straightened again. "I don't care what happens to me, as long as my babies are safe," she lied, convincingly enough.

"Surely you remember he can be a kind man. And most generous."

She shook her head. He was the worst kind of snake, that's what she remembered.

But behind her was a den of wolves.

Snakes or wolves? She asked herself this over and over.

If she didn't choose they would all be left out in the cold. 

Maria brushed the wet hair from her face. Charon's smile grew and he looked even more like a shark. He opened the door for her and she stepped aside so Bianca could go ahead. She only let Nico go once the door was shut.

"It doesn't matter if he's kind or not. I'm an amazing actress," she told Charon, matching his smile.


End file.
